This morning in a session we were talking about smoking rates and the direct costs of cigarettes. This was a lead on from a discussion on health and then consumption, where people spend thousands every year on entertainment activities, but complain that healthy food and gyms are too expensive - I agree, they are too expensive, but we also have to look at our priorities and we tend to consistently put our leisure above our own well-being - no matter the cost.
I looked into the costs of a pack of cigarettes quickly and found some interesting information.
Highest 5
I knew that Australia was the most expensive and by a fair way by the looks.
Lowest 5
As you can see, between the listed top and bottom, there is a massive 2200% difference.
Then I went to smoking rates and the average in Australia it is ~15% and Nigeria around ~9%, but this doesn't tell the whole story. For example:
A= Average M= Male F= Female
Norway: A= 22.25% M= 22.40% F= 22.10%
Denmark A= 17.00% M= 17.60% F= 16.40%
Sweden A= 20.60% M= 20.40% F= 20.80%
These are Scandinavian countries and perhaps this is where you can see that Finland is Baltic.
Finland A= 20.85% M= 23.20% F= 18.50%
Maybe smoking rates aren't where we should be talking about equality between the sexes, but it brought up an interesting set of comparisons. These numbers are taken from here by the way.
Australia A= 14.90% M= 16.70% F= 13.10%
Nigeria A= 9.25% M= 17.40% F= 1.10%
That is quite some disparity in the difference between Male sand female smoking numbers in Nigeria, but there are some very strange numbers.
South Korea A= 27.00% M= 49.80% F= 4.20%
Egypt A= 25.10% M= 49.90% F= 0.30%
Cameroon A= 22.35% M= 43.80% F= 0.90%
Vietnam A= 24.20% M= 47.10% F= 1.30%
Armenia A= 26.90% M= 52.30% F= 1.50%
This is just a selection that I randomly took that had large discrepancies between male and female smokers, but there are more behind the link I added above. I wonder what causes the differences, whether it is a reporting issue or perhaps a cultural thing. Are women really smoking so little, or is it taboo to publicly admit that they do? Whatever it is, that is a very big difference between some of those. I wonder how much impact this makes on global life expectancy and perhaps indicates why women live longer on average.
I find such very large differences questionable.
What's the split on Hive?
While it is impossible to truly know for numerous reasons, I wonder what the split on Hive is, as at least in my experience, it is generally pretty well even, where there are plenty of female creators of all kinds. However, there do not seem to be so many female developers and coders, but this is really no surprise, as that is the norm in the industry.
I actually think it is pretty cool that this is "so technical" yet from a creative standpoint, that doesn't seem to be an issue at all. And I am not assuming that women aren't technical, but in general, women on social media tend to gravitate more heavily toward the visual forms, Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest - whereas men go for the more text heavy, Reddit and Twitter forum-types of places - and Hive is definitely more text than image.
While people like to get on equality horses and ride off into the sunset, in general, men and women do tend to communicate with different styles and perhaps this is also down to having different ways of processing and navigating information. Perhaps if more visual, the language used is more visual too, more emotive and expressive, as that tends to give a stronger mental image.
Maybe in the future there will be some cleaner interfaces designed for more visually orientated people, maybe @dapplr will fill that niche. I think that one of the great (and confusing for some people) things is that it can support and endless array of gateways that are designed for target audiences and hopefully, this will expand to include not only interface design, but usecase development that supports specific behaviors. This already happens through games for example, but I am hoping that they will be designed to suit communities, like gallery apps for browsing and voting on photos, or like I posted about yesterday, a quote app for excerpts from long form work and cool comments.
I am hoping that eventually there will be more plug and play (as well as pay) experiences, where I can choose the layout of my blog or add widget-esque apps developed by Hive users, that either support my activities or give my audience a more tailored experience. These little UI bites can have a big effect on the UX. When it comes to a distributed network, we don't have to agree, we don't have to like the same things, we don't have to all sit in the same bath - we can develop and enjoy independently of each other while still being connected at the blockchain hip. We are a "one size fits all" community, but being decentralized means we don't have to all where the same clothes - it gives a freedom for development that no other platform can offer their userbase and of course, we as the users are also the ones who benefit from its ownership.
What has this got to do with smoking? Very little.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
It's difficult to hide the fact that you're a smoker, so I'm going to guess that women really smoke much less than men in a lot of countries. You can do the smoking out of sight of everyone but I can't get rid of the taste and smell very easily.
This is a good point, especially if it is socially punishable in some way.
Yes, but I believe in some cases, if you don't see it, it is easy to ignore.
That was kind of funny. Two pretty distinct post in one it would seem. Smoking and Block Chain.
I am sure you are right on the dev side of things when it comes to men/women, it does seem though that the split is pretty even when it comes to crypto smart. That is a pretty telling thing to me, crypto currency you would think would fall in the same skill set sort of as development, a more mathematical thing than a creative thing. Yet with the split it seems neither sex is totally out doing the other, and I think that is because it is a new industry. Perhaps one of the newest industries since the computer revolution.
I think internet and then mobile are distinct - then blockchain. Funny thing is, blockchain/ crypto doesn't do anything new, it just leverages and connects a community owned economy to what already exists.
I always liked a lady smoker.
I quite liked smoking myself, obvs it's unhealthy as fuck but it was a guilty pleasure for a long time.
I enjoyed it too, but quit about 10 years back. I think the EU directive to ban in pubs and clubs as well as take it out of sight to buy, made quite a difference. When smokers are separated, the smell of being a smoker is apparent :D
I have weirdly not really liked women smokers, but it has also never really gotten in the way of proceedings. Smoking is kind of like boyfriends and husbands in that regard ;D
It really did make a difference. I realised when they bought that directive in that I felt did do a lot of it socially and I started to actually notice the stink myself!
Not having there reminder at the checkout made a difference for me too. Stopping smoking does make you put on weight though, as the chocolate bars were still there at the PoS in full view and easy reach.
I can remember those ladies nights with over a 1000 young ladies running around all puffing away and downing drinks in the competitions we set up. All part of the fun. I think there is so much unhealthy stuff around that we quite don't know exactly how bad like msg additives and all the chemicals in our food. I laughed last week as I found half a sandwich from Woolworths/Marks and Spencers under my car seat still in it's wrapper that looked like it was not even a day old yet I know my daughter must have left it there in March. Ham and cheese with no mold and no smell is pretty amazing, but does make you think what is it as it can't be ham and cheese really can it?
The tendency of smoking among girls has increased more than before.
Cigarettes are in the hands of a section of urban women - something not seen ten years ago.
But at one time, women's smoking in public was considered a crime in Bangladesh.
I think it is on the decline here, but not too sure.
Out of curiosity and since we are on a blockchain that encourages freedom of speech and activity, how does this kind of law make you feel?
Of course, I feel offensive. Law should be equal for both men and women.
It wasn't a strict law, it's past now. Yet, women's smoking is sin in the eye of common people here.
About smoking - stop and the problem is solved. It's that easy.
The problem of?
OK, no problem. Just the situation :)
OK. Let's get this out of the way first. I smoke. Cigars. About 2 per day. I haven't had a cigarette in about 15 years. It's a story I might write some day. Or not :)
I do know that alcohol stats tend to show more men than women abusers, but that difference is getting closer every year. At least in the US.
The question (the real question) about gender on Hive makes me think to my own preferences. I follow and read a roughly equal number. I really like people with stories to tell, whatever the gender. I'd like to think that my bias is toward content without regard to creator. I'm also well enough informed to know that I'm not the best person to judge my bias.
Where does that leave me? Anxious and interested in new and interesting changes to the UI and UX. How's that for a transition from examining my personal biases? It's certainly a lot easier for me, and generally, easier is the path I take. It's a bias, don't you know?
Nothing wrong with smoking - other than the obvious. I am all for freedom of choice, except for when minors are involved, which is often when the addiction starts :)
There is also the prescription drug abuse thing there now, right?
I am unsure about my own follow bias, but I follow lots of women too. I think it will depend on interest though, as I am also interested in the development side, which is predominantly men, though there are exceptions there too -thankfully.
I think the thing with gender bias of content, relatability also has to be factored in and we tend to spend more time with what we relate to. This is why we also favor what we have an interest in, as it is relatable. I am generally creator agnostic on content until I know the account well enough - people matter in my book.
UI tweaks could have a big effect on many behaviors on Hive, but they have to be integrated and simple to find and use.
Yes. Addiction is a serious problem here. Prescription and street drugs. I'm hoping that while there is a huge groundswell to change policing that a drug policy change might creep through with it. Identify it as illness rather than crime. I am not holding my breath. What little I have due to smoking :)
I think that the prescription problem is more about social disconnection, ironic as we are the most "connected" we have ever been...
Yep. I was going through my 'follow' list the other day. I trimmed a few, but I came on a fair number that I used to really like. There was a woman engineer who moved way off the grid with her engineer husband and she wrote about solutions to their problems. She just left, and I miss her content.
So a fair number on my follow list are people that have gone. I leave them on the odd off chance that they will return and I want to be there when they do. It costs me nothing...
yep it costs nothing to follow, unless they are posting crap - then it is a waste of scrolling time. I think quite a few will return once things actually kick off. Not many are suited to foundation phases.
Until about 10 years ago in Korea, it was common for women smoking in public to be berated by older men.
Although belittling, sexist and perhaps bad for one's emotional and mental health, it may be better than smoking.
Perhaps it applies to other areas to - food shaming? :D
Definitely
LOL
:D - while it wouldn't surprise me these days if it wasn't, that must be trolling...
Better than smoking - hell yes.
If I remember right, poor people smoke more. https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/disparities/low-ses/index.htm I saw different versions of this as well.
There was a great rat experiment with drugs, rats who were bored were more likely to drink drug water, while those who had other entertainments available, didn't https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_Park
there are lots of interesting studis out there concerning addictions. Would be nice if more people looked into it but, poor people are also less likely to read that kind of stuff. I can't remember the exact percentages, but it is something like 90% of poor people watch reality television, 3% of rich. It was from a while ago though.
I can't think of one reality tv show that I've ever watched :S I don't think they're popular around here in general, Big Brother was a thing for a while, but that's about it as far as I know.
I prefer Reddit/Twitter/ Pinterest(don't post on pinterest tho) over Fb/Instagram :P
Also I can't stand smoke, likely allergic actually (burning eyes, nose, migraines etc) so I avoid smokers and those close know not to smoke around me.
I haven't noticed more men vs women smoking here, except for how much (women seem to just smoke less often). I'm guessing those who smoke just occasionally don't consider themselves smokers, which might skew the statistics.
My family is more on creative side regardless of gender, actually don't know many techy people in general here compared to economists/lawyers etc.
I think there might be a profession skew too, where women are more likely to work in offices and men out in the field, like construction sites. This would likely also influence whether someone is a smoker or not.
I don't think that's the case, they get some breaks that non smokers don't really. I couldn't believe how many smoke breaks my uni (quit) classmates took before.
An interesting analogy. Nicotine and games are drugs. If nicotine is unrealistic to sell on the HIVE blockchain (though ...) then games are something that can attract solvent users anywhere for a quality game, even on the blockchain.
I believe blockchain gaming is going to be huge and I would predict that a lot of the players are going to be women. How many guys do you know who played Farmville?
How many girls do you know who played Mafiawars? ;P
How many people do I know who played Mafiawars...? ;D
And how many already play all crypto games :)
probably 3 or 4 people globally? ;D
Interesting, I guess it's age difference, it came out when I was in HS and all guys played and a few girls including me. Including vampirewars and other silly ones haha
are you saying, I might be too young? ;D
Of courseee, you're the Bakugan generation 😂
Hmmm interesting. I guess women smoking is less of a taboo now than it was in the past. I never smoked and I had a hard time understanding this habit of people. From a financially stand of point it is rather draining you of money and of health. And that smell.... oh my that ain't sexy.
Sure women are drawn to images and visuals, but so are men... In other areas. I think it would be awesome to have a more personalised feel to the blog as long as the focus remains on the quality of the content.
I wonder how many women of Hive smoke versus the men. I thought you were going to ask that, now I wonder lol.
I smelt fabulous!
Just think, a pack a day smoker in Australia would spend 8000 dollars annually.
There are definitely overlaps in what people are drawn to and in many other areas, but in this case, generalization is good enough. :)
I suspect that many smoke on Hive, since they don't have to go out and socialize in the real world ;D
Hahahhahahha. I wish I could live long enough to sit next to a smoker and say "gosh this man smells fabulous". You will be the first to know if I do encounter such a person😂 Smoke smell gives me nausea and terrible headache. I can't stand being next to a smoker for too long before I get grossed out. Literally.
8000 dollars is good money. If you would take those money from their wallet and burn it in their face, they would call you crazy and be furious. But if they take it and burn it slowly into their lungs.. Then it is better. That is why I always had a hard time trying to get this habit. I think it shows a slight problem with dealing with anxiety. I think there are better ways to solve that and master our emotions than smoking our lungs out.
Once you do the math..... I never believe people who smoke telling me "I do not have enough money". I look at smoking as a luxury habit. Funny thing (or not), I saw/see many poor people having this luxury habit. Interesting huh?
Yayyy I'm not the only one, it's hard to explain that I actually get really bad headaches from smoke and I'm 100% sure it's the cigarettes. I can smell cigarettes on items if they were in the same room even hours later.
Seriously, I'll rather waste my money on some fancy dessert/cake/chocolate.
I totally agree with you. Smoking is a waste of money
I actually think it might be the opposite. Since we're less social in real life, we were probably less likely pressured into smoking in the first place ;)
It might be age based. Started when young and pre-digital, continued as immersed into the matrix and repressed any need for human touch.
Lol. I wondered where this was going. When I was working for the cigarette company I found this part interesting as there were more female smokers than men in the 18-30 range. This is why I used to promote at ladies nights and not the strip clubs around the corner. One can go further breaking it down into race and religion as in some parts it is frowned upon. Your stats also prove that point.
I am guessing it would also be affected (hopefully) by pregnancy rates too, where women would smoke less if pregnant or nursing and therefore, more likely to quit? I think there are pretty good signs from those numbers that there is a cultural element heavily in play as to why there are big differences as well as virtually no difference in some places. Scandinavia is pretty well known for having a lot less disparity between men and women across most areas of society.
Yes where there is more equality the numbers are fairly similar. I wonder if the drinking habits are similar as well? You would have to be careful dating in Scandinavian countries as you are likely to find a beer swilling chain smoker in the under 30's age categories anyway.
At least in Scandinavia they are likely to be - although problem drinkers probably skew toward the men a fair bit.
In my experience, very few in Scandinavia are "careful" in pretty much anyway :D
Gee! thanks for the hint. Now I know I will have to bring with me a full truckload of packs of cigarettes in case that sometime I visit Aussieland, Kiwiland or Funland. LoL
If you bring a truckload, you can probably sell them on the blackmarket and make a killing
¡COOL! then I will have to bring first three truckloads and test if I can try to live like a pasha, a sheikh, a Capo di tutti capi or as a simple low profile cigs smuggler over there. Hahahaha
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STOPI wasn't sure where you were going with this, but, I can say if you went 20 years back, the US might have been on the high end of use. Whenever I watch old movies, smoking is glamorized, in both men and women.
Oh, they were akin to sex scenes, without the sex.
When they started making places no smoking, I was sure that the bars and restaurants would go bankrupt, because isn't that when a cigarette was supposed to taste best? While drinking or after a substantial meal? Coffee and a cigarette or a beer and a ciggie...
I have to say that I don't do any day to day socializing with any smokers. Anymore. Of course, nowadays, nobody is socializing, so that just counted for nothing.
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I wonder if numbers include vaping products and heated nicotine. But if i was living in Australia i would definitely quit smoking :) 20 bucks a pack! They are crazy, but i find it a wise decision. Smoking kills way too much people to be even legal.